Door and operating means therefor



Spt. 17, 1946. MORGAN I 2,407,674

DOOR AND OPERATING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Jan. 22, 1945 4 Shets-Sheet 1 20.]. [1-\ 7 Sept. 17, 1946. D. H. MORGAN 2,407,674

DOOR AND OPERATING MEANS THEREFOR Filed Jan. 22, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 L a F1106.

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i 11 3mm 80 ZHV ' David, H Morgana b- I e Sept. 17, 1946. H. MORGAN DOOR AND OPEBATING'MEANS THEREFOR Filed Jan. 22, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet v5 Sept. 17, 1946. ,D, H. MORGAN DOOR AND OPERATING MEANS THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 22, 1945 no.4. Dav? Patented Sept. 17, 1946 DOOR AND OPERATING MEANS THEREFOR David H. Morgan, Youngstown, Ohio Application January 22, 1945, Serial No. 573,912

14 Claims. (01.160-184) f This invention relates to so-called canopy .doors; i. e., doors of the type which, when open, extend horizontally, or substantially horizontally, forwardly, canopy-like, from a doorway at or near the top thereof.

More particularly, the present invention relates to so-called canopy doors of the type comprising an upper leaf and a lower leaf, the latter of which is vertically slidable between raised and lowered positions relative to the former to control opening and closing of the lower part of the doorway while the upper part of the doorway remains closed, and both of which are swingable as a unit between vertical and substantially horizontal positions to control opening and closing of the upper part of the doorway when the lower leaf is raised. The outstanding advantage of suchan arrangement is that the space to either side of the doorway, closely adjacent thereto and to the height of the bottom of the upper leaf, may be utilized for any desired purpose without interferin with operation of the door.

Generally speaking, the object of th present invention is to simplify the construction, mounting and mode of operation of doors of the type .mentioned by providing for separately pivotally mounting the upper and the lower leaves thereof and by providing a simple, practical connection between said leaves whereby they are constrained to swing as a unit between closed and open posiions.

With the foregoing and other objects in. view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in a door embodying the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views:

Fig. 1 is a vertical, transverse section through a door constructed in accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention and showing the leaves thereof in positions completely closing the doorway of a building structure with which the door is associated.

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1 showing the lower leaf in nearly its fully raised position.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 2 showing the door fully open.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the door.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged; fragmentary, elevation Fig. 10. i

showing one of the pivotal mountings of the upper leaf.

-Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary rear elevation of the top portion of one of the lower leaf supporting arms and its associated parts.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section showing in detail one of the latch means for holding the leaves against opening swinging movements.

Fig, 9 is a cross section on an enlarged scale on the line 99 of Fig. 1-.

Fig. 10 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale showing the connection between the lower portion of the upper leaf and the lower leaf; and- Fig. 11 is a cross sectionon the line HIl of Referring to the drawings in detail, A designates a part of a building structure having therein a doorway a, and B designates, generally, the present door controlling said doorway a.

The door B comprises an upper leaf I0 and a lower leaf II, and within the purview of the invention these leaves may be of any suitable specific construction. 'I'heyaccordingly have not been illustrated in detail, but have been indicated conventionally as being of panel form.

The upper leaf It! i pivoted at its top to the building structure A at the top of the doorway a, as indicated generally at I2, for upward and outward swinging movement to a substantially'horizontally disposed, open positionin which it extends, canopy-like, forwardly from the building structure A above the doorway a, and for downward and inward swinging movement to a verti cal position in which it closes the upper part of the doorway a. On the other hand, the lower leaf II is mounted upon two or more arms l3 for sliding movements therealong between lower or closed and upper or open positions, and said arms 13 are pivoted, intermediate their ends, to the building structure A adjacent to the top of the doorway a and behind the hinges l2 of the upper leaf In, as indicated generally at I4, whereby said lower leaf also is swingable between vertical and substantially horizontal positions. Moreover, the upper leaf is suitably coupled, near its lower end, either to the arms 13 or to the lower leaf ll. Accordingly, when said arms' I3 and the lower leaf are swung, the upper leaf is constrained to swing therewith.

Preferably each leaf HI and l l is approximately one-half the height of the doorway a. In any event, when the door is fully closed both leaves are disposed vertically with the upper leaf closing the upper part of doorway and the lower leaf extending between the lower portion of the upper leaf and the bottom of the doorway and closing the lower part of thedoorway. With the leaves disposed vertically, the lower leaf I I may be raised and lowered to open and close the lower part of the doorway a while the upper leaf Ii] remains in its vertical position closing the upper part of said doorway; on the other hand, means is provided whereby the upper leaf may be swung to open and close the upper part of the doorway only when the lower leaf is in substantially its fully raised position. It is apparent, therefore, that the space in front of and behind and closely adjacent to the doorway a may be utilized substantially to the height of the lower edge of the upper leaf for storage or other purposes without interference with operation of the lower leaf to open and close the lower part of the doorway and without interference with swinging of the two leaves as a unit to open and close the upper part of the doorway.

The arms I3 may be pivotally mountedupon the building structure A in any suitable manner as, for example, upon shafts I5 journaled in bearings I6 bolted or otherwise suitably fixed to the building structure at the sides of the doorway a. Likewise, the upper leaf I0 may be pivotally mounted upon the building structure A in any suitable manner as, for example, by means of pins I1 extending through overlapping hinge ears l8 and I9 suitably fixed to the building structure and the top of the upper leaf, respectively.

Below their common pivotal axis I4, the arms I3 preferably are of lengths to extend to the bottom of the upper leaf I0 when the door is -,closed, while above their common pivotal axis said arms may be of any suitable lengths. The lower leaf II may be mounted on said arms I3 in any suitable manner. In this connection; and as illustrated in the present instance, the lower leaf includes an opposed pair of vertically extending channel members 2!), 2i], relatedto and disposed at opposite sides, respectively, of the front portion of each arm I3, with their flanges 2I-extending toward said arm. Moreover, the web of each arm I3 carries, near its lower end and atopposite sides thereof, respectively, a pair of rollers 22, 22,'one disposed between the flanges of one of the related pair of channel members '20, and the other disposed between the flanges of the other of said channel membersj(see Figs. 10 and 11) In addition, the webs of the channel members 23 of each pair carry, at their inner sides and near their tops, rollers, 23, 23, respectively (see Fig. 9), which are disposed in trackways between the front flanges 24 of the arms I3 and opposed flanges 25 of angle members "25,

which are suitably fastened to the webs of said arms I3. Thus, the lower leaf is mounted upon the front portions of said arms I3 for free and easy sliding movements therealong. between raised and lowered, open and closed positions, respectively, and, at the same time, is coupled to said arms so as to be constrained to swing therewith.

In the example of the invention illustrated in the drawings, a coupling is provided between the thereof and extending longitudinally therealong, and, related to each track element 21, a pair of fingers 28, 28 carried by the upper leaf near its lower end and at the rear thereof andextending, respectively, behind the side flanges 29, 29 of the track member 21. Thus, while said couplings do not interfere with sliding movements of the lower leaf I I relative to the upper leaf III, they require the upper leaf toswing with the arms I3 and said lower leaf. Preferably the upper leaf I!) also carries, near its lower end, rollers 30, one for engagement with the front face of each track I element 21, to support the lower end portion of the upper leaf upon the lower leaf for free and easy sliding movements therealong during swinging movements of the leaves, sliding of the lower end portion of the upper leaf relative to the lower leaf occurring during swinging movements of the leaves due to the offset relationship of the pivots i2 and I4 of said leaves, as is manifest.

The pairs of channel members 20, 20 extend above the top of the lower leaf II and, above the top of said lower leaf, constitute arm which, near their upper ends, are provided with cam followers in the form of rollers 3| for cooperation with cams 32 fixed to the building structure interiorly thereof above the doorway a to effect swinging movement of the leaves toward open position in response to the final portion of upward opening movement of the'lower leaf.

The cams 32 preferably are in the form of channel members and have downwardly directed, open, front end portions which are disposed in alinement with the rollers 3I when the lower lea-f I I is in its vertically disposed position so as to receive said rollers when said lower leaf is raised.

From their open, front end portions the cams 32 are curved'upwardly, rearwardly and downwardly so that as their curves are followed by the rollers 3I the leaves II] and II are caused to swing from vertical toward horizontal positions. In this connection, it will be understood, of course, that curving of the cams 32 begins at points such that initiation of swinging movement of the leaves Ii! and II occurs only after the lower leaf is nearly fully raised and as it begins the final portion of its upward opening movement.

Any suitable means may be provided to prevent outward swinging movement of the upper portions of the arms I3 or, alternatively, inward swinging movement of the lower portions of said arms,.or of the leaf H, when said leaf II is disposed vertically. Forexample, stop plates 33 carried by the building structure A to be engaged by the upper, front portions of the arms 13 may be provided for this purpose. 0n the other hand, suitable latch means is provided to prevent rearward swinging movement of the up per end portions of the arms I3 and, consequently, outward swinging movement of the lower portions of said arms and the leaves It! and II until the lower leaf has been raised to nearly its fully open position. In this connection, and according to the construction specifically illustrated in the present instance, the arms I3 carry, near their upper ends, latche 34 which are suitably formed to engagethe related stop, plates 33 and to assume latched positions relative thereto under the influence of gravity or suitable spring means in response to forward swinging movement of the arms I3 to vertical positions. r

The latches 34 are in the form of substantially horizontally disposed arms pivoted intermediate their ends for' upward and downward swinging movements of their front end portions to latched and unlatched positions, respectively. Below each latch and pivoted to therelated arm I3 is a bell-crank lever 35 having a substantially horizontally disposed, rearwardly extending arm 36 and a substantially vertically disposed, downwardly extending arm 31, the former of which is connected to the rear end portion of the related latch 34 by a push-rod 38 and the latter of which arms is free and preferably, but not necessarily, provided with a roller 39. In this connection, it will be noted that the channel members 20, of the lower leaf carry, at the tops thereof, plates 40, one related to each bell-crank lever and having an upwardly and forwardly inclined upper end portion 43 and that the rollers 39 are disposed in the paths of upward movement of said inclined upper end portions to'be engaged thereby as the lower leaf Ii approaches its fully raised position. It will be apparent, therefore, that as the lower leaf approaches its fully raised position, the inclined upper end portions 40' of the plates 40, by engagement with the rollers 39, swing the bell-crank levers 35 to raise the rear ends and to depress the front ends of the latch arms 34 and thus release said latch arms to permit the upper end portions of the arms I3 to swing rearwardly. The arrangement in this respect is such, as shown, that the latch arms 34 are released just prior to cooperation of the rollers 3| with the upwardly and rearwardly curved portions of the cams 32. Accordingly, the arms l3 and, consequently, the leaves l0 and II, are held against swinging movement until the lower leaf approaches its fully raised position, but in response to the final portion of upward or opening movement of said lower leaf the latches 34 first are unlatched and immediately thereafter the cams 32, by cooperation with the rollers 3|, act to swing the leaves toward open position.

Any suitable means may be provided for raising the lower leaf II and for swinging said leaf and the upper leaf to open positions. connection and, as illustrated, in Figure l of the drawings, a horizontally disposed power shaft 4| is mounted behind the doorway a at a suitable elevation and is connected, through a reduction gear 42, with a reversible electric motor 43 to be driven by the latter in either direction. On the shaft 4| is one or more cable drums 44, preferably two, and on said drums are wound cables 45 which extend from said drums over sheaves 46 carried by related arms 13 near their upper end and downwardly from said sheaves to the lower leaf l l to which they are suitably connected. Accordingly, when the motor 33 is onerated in a direction to rotate the shaft 4! to wind the cables 45 onto the drums 44, the lower leaf first is raised and then the two leaves are swung to their canopy-like, open positions extending forwardly from the doorway a at. the top thereof. On the other hand, the leaves gravitate to their closed positions when the motor 43 is rotated in a direction to effect cable-unwinding rotation of the drums 44.

Upon the upper end portions of the arms !3 is mounted a suitable counterweight 41 to counterbalance the weight of said arms and the leaves I0 and II during swinging movements thereof. On the other hand, another weight 48 is provided to counterbalance the weight of the lower leaf N to render the latter freely and easily slidable along the arms l3 between its In this i raised and lowered positions. The weight 48 is shown as being slidably mounted on the arms l3 and as being connected to the lower leaf by means of cables 49 extending over sheaves 50 carried by said arms I3 near their upper ends. Alternatively, both the counterbalance means for the lower leaf, and for the combined leaves, may be of any other suitable form.

If desired, a suitable switch may be provided to be automatically actuated, as the: leaves Ill and II approach their substantially horizontal open positions, to cut off flow of current to the motor 43. On the other hand, another switch may be provided to be automatically actuated to cut an flow of current to the motor 43 as the lower leaf nears its lower or closed position. In addition, a third switch may be located at any suitable point for manual operation to cause the motor 43 to operate in either direction to open or to permit closing of the door.

Assuming the door to be completely closed, it is apparent that, upon actuation of the motor 43 to open the door, the lower leaf first will be raised to nearly its fully open position while the upper leaf remains in its vertical position closing the upper part of the doorway; that, responsive to the final portion of upward or opening movement of the lower leaf, the latches 34 will be released and opening swinging movement of the leaves initiated; and that thereafter the leaves will be swung to their fully open positions. on the other hand, assuming the door to be fully open, it is apparent that upon actuation of the motor 43 to unwind the cables 45 from the drums 44, thereby to permit the leaves to gravitate to their closed positions, the two leaves first will swing from their substantially horizontal positions to vertical positions and thereafter the lower leaf will gravitate to its lowered or closed position, with actua- 40 tion of the switch 52 to cut off flow of current to the motor 43 as said lower leaf reaches its lowered or closed position.

Without further description, it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course he understood, that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted adjacent to its top for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal closed and open positions, respectively, a lower leaf mounted for vertical sliding movement relative to said upper leaf between raised and lowered open and closed positions, respectively, means pivoting said lower leaf at a point spaced inwardly and downwardly from the pivot of said upper leaf for swinging movement between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal positions, and means coupling said leaves together for unitary swinging movements thereof.

2. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal positions, a lower leaf coupled to said upper leaf for vertical sliding movements with respect thereto and for swinging movements therewith, and pivot means for said lower leaf disposed in offset relationship to th pivot ofsaid upper leaf.

3. A door comprising a plurality of arms pivoted for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal positions, .a lower leaf slidably mounted on said arms, an upper leaf pivoted independently of said arms for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal positions, and means coupling :said leaves together so as to require both to swing when either is swung.

4. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted adjacent to its top for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal positions, arms pivoted at points below and behind the pivot 'of said upper leaf for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontally disposed positions, a lower leaf mounted on said arms .for sliding moveanents therealon'g, and :means coupling said leaves together :so that swinging movements of said arms and said lower leaf impart swinging movements to said upper leaf. l

5. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted adjacent to its top for swinging movements between a substantially vertical position and a substantially horizontal position, a lower leaf, coupled with said upper leaf for Vertical sliding movements with respect thereto between raised and lowered open and closed positions respectively, .and for swinging movements therewith, pivot means .for said lower leaf spaced behind and below the pivotal axis of said upper leaf, and cam means operable in response to the final portion of upward opening movement of said lower leaf to initiate swinging movement of both leaves toward substantially horizontal open positions.

6. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted "adjacent to its top for swinging movements between a substantially vertical position and a substantially horizontal position, a lower leaf coupled with said upper leaf for vertical sliding movements, with respect thereto between raised and lowered open and :closed positions, respectively, and for swinging movements therewith, pivot means for saidlower leaf spaced behind and below the pivotal axis of said upper leaf, power means for raising and for controlling lowering of said lower, leaf, .and cam means operable in response to the final portion of upward opening movement of said lower leaf to initiate swinging movement of both leaves toward substantially horizontal open positions.

7. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted adjacent to its top for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal positions, arms pivoted at points below and behind the pivot of said upper leaf for swinging movements between substantially vertical and 'susbtantia'lly horizontally disposed positions, a lower leaf mounted on said arms'for sliding move- 'ments ftherealong, means coupling said leaves together so that swinging movement of said arms and said lower leaf imparts swinging movements to said upper leaf, power means for raising and for controlling lowering of said lower leaf, and cam means operable in response to the final portion of upward opening movement of said lower leaf to initiate swinging movements of said arms and leaves toward their substantially horizontal positions.

8. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted adjacent to its top for swinging movements between a substantially vertical position and a substantially horizontal position, a lower leaf, coupled with said upper leaf .for vertical sliding movements with respect thereto between raised and lowered open and closed positions, respectively and for swinging movements therewith, pivot means for said lower leaf spaced behind and below the pivotal axis of said upper leaf, latch means to holdsaid leaves in substantially vertical positions during the major portion of upward opening movement of the lower leaf, means operable in response to the final and minor portion of upward opening movement of .said lower leaf to release said latch means, and cam means'also operable in response to the final minor portion of upward opening movement of said lower leaf and following release of said latch means to initiate swinging movement of said leaves toward their substantially liorizontal open position,

9. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted adjacent to its top for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal positions, arms pivoted intermediate their ends at points :below and behind the pivot of said upper leaf for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontally disposed positions, a lower leaf mounted on said arms for sliding movements therealong, means coupling said leaves together so that swing-- ing movements of said arms and said lower leaf imparts swinging movements to said upper leaf, cable drums spaced behind the pivots of said arms, sheaves carried by said arms adjacent to their upper ends, and cables connected to :and extending from said lower leaf over said sheaves to said drums to be wound onto the latter to raise said lower leaf and to swing "said arms and said leaves toward their substantially horizontal positions.

10. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted adjacent to its top for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontal positions, arms pivoted intermediate their ends at points below and behind the pivot of said upper leaf for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially horizontally disposed positions, a lower leaf mounted on said arms for sliding movements therealong, means coupling said leaves together so that swinging movements of said arms and said lower leaf imparts swinging movements to said upper leaf, cable drums spaced behind the pivots of said arms, sheaves carried by said arms adjacent to their upper ends, cables connected to and extending from said lower leaf over said sheaves to said drums to be wound onto the lattheir ends at points below and behind the pivot of said upper leaf for swinging movements between substantially vertical and substantially said lower leaf and to swing said arms and said leaves toward their substantially horizontal positions, latch means to hold said arms and said leaves in their vertical positions during the major portion of upward opening movement of the lower leaf, means operable in response to the final and inner portion of upward opening movement of said lower leaf to release said latch means, and means also operable in response to the final minor portion of upward opening movement of said lower leaf to initiate swinging movement of said arms and said leaves toward their substantially horizontal positions following release of said latch means.

12. A door as set forth in claim 4 including a counterweight for the lower door slidably mounted on the arms.

13. A door as set forth in claim 4 including a counterweight for the arms and the leaves carried by the arms,

14. A door as set forth in claim 9 including other sheaves carried by the arms adjacent to their upper ends, a counterweight for the lower leaf slidably mounted on said arms, and cables extending over said last-mentioned sheaves and connected at their ends to said lower leaf and said counterweight, respectively,

DAVID H. MORGAN. 

